City moves forward with Pool renovation plans

The sound of construction may soon be heard around the Earl Mah Aquatic centre, as City Council decided on a contractor for a renovation project that is estimated to cost 164,250 dollars.

After a report from City's Engineering coordinator Richard Pucci and about twenty minutes of discussion, City Council settled on the recommendation from staff and agreed with the selection of Williams Engineering as their contractor for the renovation project.

Giving their nod to the national company which has three British Columbia offices, over  Vancouver based competitor JM Bean and Co. Ltd.

Council agreed with the recommendation of Mr. Pucci, that despite the fact that Williams provided for the higher bid, they had the most experience when it comes to the requirements of a project such as the Pool renovation.

The two bids were fairly close in total cost, with JM Bean and Company submitting a bid of 153,100 dollars, while Williams Engineering offered up a bid that totalled 164,250 dollars.

In his report to Council Mr. Pucci observed that "Williams Engineering illustrated good value for dollar concept, had an excellent understanding of the project, good past performance record and an increased knowledge of the site".

Following his report, Council members asked a number of questions regarding the project and the recommendation to accept the bid from Williams.

For the most part the bulk of the inquiries came from Councillors Cunningham, Garon and Carlick-Pearson, the majority of them seeking clarification on the process of selection and what factors led for City Staff to recommend Williams Engineering.

One question not along the financial theme of the contract overview, was Councillor Carlick-Pearsons' inquiry as to the nature of the planned renovations and whether users of the Earl Mah Aquatic Centre would notice any difference in the pool area or adjacent amenities.

She was advised that for the most part, this is more of a mechanical renovation, with no aesthetic plans in the works for the pool area itself. For the most part the renovation will involve the HVAC system, heating and ventilation systems as well as the building envelope aspects of the Aquatic centre.

You can review Mr. Pucci's report and background on the Request for Proposal from the City Council Agenda page 18 of February 24th session.

A review of the discussion in Council Chambers on Monday can be found on the City Council Video Archive, the contract review and decision to award it to Williams Engineering takes place from the one hour forty three minute mark until the 1 hour 51 minute point.

For those looking for some background on Williams Engineering a compilation of some of their past projects across Canada can be found here.

There is more background on other items that were up for discussion on Monday night available from our Archive of the February 24th session.

As well, more items of note on municipal issues can be found on our Discussion points from Council archive.